Process of continuously annealing and plating wire



(No Model.)

J. OOPPIN.

PROCESS OF GONTINUOUSLY ANNEALING AND PLATINGWIRE. No. 399,382. PatentedMar. 12, 1889.

WITNESSES, NVENTOR.

/fi/1/z/(,M W 0 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JUHN. COFFIN, 0F J OHNSIUWN PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNUR TO 'lHE GAMER IAIRON' COMPANY OF PENNSY LVANIA.

" PROCESS OF CONTINUOUSLY ANNEALINQAND PLATING WlRE.

:0 emen forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,382, dated MarchApplication filed July as, 1888. Serial m 281,264. (No modal.)

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN COFFIN, a citizen ofthe United States, residingat.Johnstown,

in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in the Process of ContinuouslyAnnealing and Plating Wire; and I do,

hereby declare the followin and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same.

'hlyinvention relates tothe artof continumetallic coating, commonlycalled galvanizing, but more properly plating.

in the process of continuous annealing and platingit has been customaryto fi 1st. pass the wire through. an annealing-bath of red -hot lead andthen throiwh an acid. bath, and then through the zinc. The object of theacid bath is to thoroughly cleanse the surface of thewi re diate hathof,

from oxide. There would be great gain accomplished it the-wire could hepassed from the lead'annealing-hath directly to the zinc-coating hathWithout passing through an in terme 'ing-bath to about the tom acid,because where an acid ba is nsed the wire has to'be cooled almost col toprevent the acid from being vaporized,

and then the. cold wire in passing into the plating-bath chills the body of th 0 bath, so that the operation is delayed. If the plating-bathwere not chilled at all, the operation would be somewhat delayed,because the wire has to come tot-he temperature of the fusing-point ofthe plating-metal before any plating will take place. it has beenheretofore impossible to dispense with the acidbath. between theannealing and the plating baths, because where the wire is exposed tothe atmospheric action a film of oxide is deposited on the wire, whichprevents the adhesion of theplatingmetal. .To overcome this objectionand make ,l a itpossibleto run directly from the annealingbath to the'platinghath is the feature of my presentinvent-ion;

To carry my invention into effect, I first the wire through an acid bathto remove all traces of dirtand oxide, thence through a red hot-leadannealing-bath. I then carry it through a suitable conduit filled with'ieducg to be a full, clear,

ously annealing wire and coating it with a plat-ing-bat-h is the usuallimitto the ging them in the baths.

ing-gaspto the platingbath, thence-through;

the plating-bath, and finally wipe from it the surplus metal and coil itupon reels inthe usual manner.- v t My invention, then, consists, in themain part, in the reversal of the order of the acid and annealing bathsand the gas-filled con-' duit, which makes this reversal possible.

The object of'my invention is to che'apen the process of annealing andplating-by preventing-a toma-ke possible a more rapid progression of thewire through the baths, as the time in the speed of manipulation; and bybringing the wire into the plating-bath at'or near the temperature "ofthe metal contained therein very little time is required in this bat-h.The conduit which forms part of my invention is similar in constructionto one which I describe in an application, Serial No. 281,263, for apatent for process of annealing and platingwire, filed simultaneouslywith this application. It' is desirable to make this conduit of suitablelength, so that the wire will slowly cool from the temperature of thelead annealperatnre of the plat. lug-bath before reaching it, for iftheconduit were so short that the wire reached the plating-bat-h at afull red heat there would be some hardeningand stilfening ofthe wire,due to the sudden cooling from the 'full red to the temperature of theplating-bath, and th'e object of annealing would be somewhat thwarted.

' To get sufficient'length without occupying too I make the conduit of Amuch floor-space, shape, and place in the apex of the-A a suit ableroller to 'conduct-thewirs over, it being understood in this, as inother plating processes, that it is desirable to carry many wiresthrough the several baths simultaneously. "To prevent. gas from escapingfrom the conduit and to prevent'the atmosphere from entering it, Isealthe ends of the conduit by il11II1P$- Thus one leg of the under thesurface of conduit is fixedentirely and the other leg of the leadannealing-bath, the conduit .is fixed entirely un'der'the surface of theplating-bath. If -no provision were mad to pre'ventit, the contained gasin the conduit waste of acid from vaporization, and

would become very hot from the many wires 1 passing through it,and thetemperature of ceases thew ire would not be reduced enough beforereachifig the metal of -the plating-bath. To keep the gascool in theconduit, I cool the .Outside of the conduit by spraying on it jets ofwater from pipefs'near the apex of the A. The water flows down thesloping sides, and is carriedaway by means of stop-gutters located atthe bottoms of the legs and above the surfacesof the baths. I supply gasto the 0011-, duit through a suitable pipe.

' wastage of gas, except through sometrifling leakage, therefore a largesupply of gas is not required, and the smallamount of gas I use Ithoroughly dry. I prefer to use hydrogen, carbonic-oxide, or othersuitable reducing-gas, and thoroughly dry it by causing it to bubblethrough sulphuric acid, for it is well known that a wet gas, which maybe reducing at a high temperature, will be oxidizing at a lowtemperature. 1

Referring to the annexed plate of drawings, which forms part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation; Fig. 2, a plan of myinvention, and Fig. 3 a detail on line X. Y of Fig. 1. l a

ike letters of reference refer to like parts throughout.

XV represents a-wire in course of passage through the severalbaih's, thearrows showing its direction of passage,

B represents the acid bath, A the lead annealing-bath, and-C theplating-bath,

a, b, and 0 represent suitable sinkers in the several baths, to retainthe wire under the surface of the contained liquid.

v a is a roller located at the end of the acid bath B, the ofiice ofwhich is to guide the wircsinto the bath.

b' is a roller located between the baths B and A, the oflice of which isto guide the wires in their passage between these baths.

D represents the conduit. This conduit, as

is shown by drawings, is A shape, and has located atits apex the roller(1', which serves as a .guide to the wires through the conduit.

The rollerd' is entirely within the conduit,

but may have one of its journals extend through a stufling-box, so as tohave power applied from without to revolve the roller d i and assist inthe passage of the wires. One

end of the conduit dips under thesurface of the lead bath A and theother end dips under the surface of the plating-bath C, the object ofthis seal being to prevent the egressof gas or ingress of air. d is apipe to supply the conduit with dry cas b d d 'are spray-pipes to spraywateron the outside of conduit D, to keep its surface cool.

1 d d. are stop-gutters attached to the legs of the conduit above thesurfaces of the baths, to conduct away the water which has been sprayedupon the outside of the conduit and which has run down its slopingsides. The overflow ofthe stop-gutters d d" is shown "The c onduit Disrectangular in section,-so

introduced is fastened to the wire which is There is no" as toaccomodate many wires.- The form is clearly shown in Fig. 3, which is asection on lineX Y of Fig. 1. 4 i

The dots in Fig. 3 represent the wires within the conduit, one of whichis marked \V.

In operating myinventi'on at least one wire is always kept within theconduit. To introduce other wires, the end of the wire to be already inthe conduit, when its passage course of operation, should a wire becomebroken in the conduit, a new wire is introduced by fastening its -end toany of the progressing wires?' The roller d at-the top of theconduit isnot grooved to separate the wires, but is a plain roller, so that if thewires do not maintain their relative position of entering the conduit notrouble is experienced. I have spoken of my invention as a process ofplating wire. L I do. not confine myself narrowly t0 the commercialarticle known as wire, but wish to have my invention embrace allmetallic strips, woven webbing, twisted strands, linked wire,or otherarticles which it is usual to plate and which ordinarily are long enoughto'betreated by the continuous method. By my invention I am notrestricted to a particular kind of acid, as the office of the acid bathwhich I use is mere] y to clean the wire. Thus I may use a bath'ot'dilute sulphuric acid, after which I .might place a bath of runningwater to remove t e adhering-acid. It would be permissible to usesulphuric acid in my process, because-the heat of the annealing-bathwould be suflicient to drive'ofl the hydrogen which otherwise would beobjectionable; or I might use a bath of any other acid or anycombination of baths,

through will introduce the new wire. In the or might use someot-herannealing-bath, or

, might substitute for the annealingbath a tubular furnace; and I mayuse any proper plating-metal.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure Letters Patent, is-.

1'. The process of annealing and plating wire by continuous operation,consisting-in passing the wire, first, through a suitable cleaning-bathof annealing-bath of red-hot lead or other medium; third, through asealed conduit filled with reducing-gas, and, fourth, through abathsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The process of annealing and plating wire by continuous operation,consisting in passing the wire through an annealing-bath, thencedirectly through a conduit filled with reducing-gas, plating-metal,substantially as and for the purpose set forth; f

In testimony whereofi affix my signature in presence of: two witnesses.1

WVitnsses: JOHN COFFIN.

- HARRY A. SHIELDS, JAMES CRANSTON.

acid; second, through an of molten zinc-or other suitable plating-metal,

and thence through a bath of

